JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
- 63,590
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I have been friends with and used to consider myself a small case 'l'ibertarian, but not an ideological 'L'ibertarian. I have always felt that there are limits to what a system of ideology can do for you. Ideology is nothing more than a tool that if you use too much to express your own thought, the tool ends up doing all your thinking for you.
While most conservatives have a healthy regard for limited government and individual rights, Libertarians take it to an extreme, opposing a draft in time of war, opposing emergency powers for the government during disasters, objecting to any use of government funding to improve our infrastructure despite the FACT that the US government has been doing this since 1806 when they funded the construction of the National Road.
But ideologues never let actual facts stop them and Libertarians are no different. And with these guys, there is a certain mystique in always losing elections, funding and being rejected by the general population as they think it kind of sanctifies them as being right, somehow.
Back when Bob Barr was the Libertarian Party nominee and got into double digits in a few polls running for POTUS, a Libertarian friend of mine expressed dismay saying that if Barr was so popular, there must be something wrong with him. I asked him how Libertarians could ever win an election with that kind of attitude, and he replied 'We are not supposed to win elections; that is for the sheeple.' That was the final straw as I began to realize that Libertarian = Losertarian and that observation has been confirmed repeatedly over the years.
And we see this dynamic in play in the Republican party today, where a good many of the Ted Cruz supporters were Libertarians from Rand Pauls campaign after he folded his tent. Instead of bowing to the winner and taking backstage, no, they have decided that it is better to lose the election than to support a 'liberal' like Donald Trump, lol. The only issues that Trump got his 'liberal' label for was that he was in favor of keeping Social Security, using government to help people and reforming our trade agreements to benefit the American worker rather than the American corporations. Isnt this a losing position, to oppose these programs and revising these treaties? Well yes, but Libertarians are totally OK with that, no matter who else it drags down with them, like the rest of the GOP. Hence 'Losertarian'.
But the moral impact of this fatalistic vision of humanity is the most abhorrent of all. Libertarians recognize there existing no unfortunate person, as to them each and every one of us are in total command of our own destiny, no matter if you cant get a job because of age discrimination, a history of disabilities or being Black Listed. IF you cant do what it takes to succeed, in their opinion, then you are a whiner and deserve to die. The fact that even the top STEM graduates are having a hard time getting work doesnt persuade them to ease back on the inflow of more H1-B visa workers, no, if Americans cant compete with three STEM people for every STEM job, then thats their problem and they can starve. The fact that almost every Libertarian I had ever met would not have survived living in the 1800s really doesnt bother them, if it even enters their mental radar at all.
And of course this heartless attitude fucks it all up for actual conservatives who mistake these drones for a form of conservatism. But Russel Kirk and Edmund Burke would not have recognized these ass holes as conservative in any way shape or form. Conservatism is about preserving Christendom and always has been and these Johnny-Come-Lately Losertarians are nothing more than a bunch of rats who are not bad because of what they eat so much as what they get into and spoil for human consumption.
They are leaving their mark on this 2016 election so far, convincing innocent conservatives making the mistake of trusting them, to truthfully explain why they will not support an obviously conservative candidate. But with any luck, it will brand them for the alien shits that they are and the GOP will be more able to purge them from the ranks in 2018.
While most conservatives have a healthy regard for limited government and individual rights, Libertarians take it to an extreme, opposing a draft in time of war, opposing emergency powers for the government during disasters, objecting to any use of government funding to improve our infrastructure despite the FACT that the US government has been doing this since 1806 when they funded the construction of the National Road.
But ideologues never let actual facts stop them and Libertarians are no different. And with these guys, there is a certain mystique in always losing elections, funding and being rejected by the general population as they think it kind of sanctifies them as being right, somehow.
Back when Bob Barr was the Libertarian Party nominee and got into double digits in a few polls running for POTUS, a Libertarian friend of mine expressed dismay saying that if Barr was so popular, there must be something wrong with him. I asked him how Libertarians could ever win an election with that kind of attitude, and he replied 'We are not supposed to win elections; that is for the sheeple.' That was the final straw as I began to realize that Libertarian = Losertarian and that observation has been confirmed repeatedly over the years.
And we see this dynamic in play in the Republican party today, where a good many of the Ted Cruz supporters were Libertarians from Rand Pauls campaign after he folded his tent. Instead of bowing to the winner and taking backstage, no, they have decided that it is better to lose the election than to support a 'liberal' like Donald Trump, lol. The only issues that Trump got his 'liberal' label for was that he was in favor of keeping Social Security, using government to help people and reforming our trade agreements to benefit the American worker rather than the American corporations. Isnt this a losing position, to oppose these programs and revising these treaties? Well yes, but Libertarians are totally OK with that, no matter who else it drags down with them, like the rest of the GOP. Hence 'Losertarian'.
But the moral impact of this fatalistic vision of humanity is the most abhorrent of all. Libertarians recognize there existing no unfortunate person, as to them each and every one of us are in total command of our own destiny, no matter if you cant get a job because of age discrimination, a history of disabilities or being Black Listed. IF you cant do what it takes to succeed, in their opinion, then you are a whiner and deserve to die. The fact that even the top STEM graduates are having a hard time getting work doesnt persuade them to ease back on the inflow of more H1-B visa workers, no, if Americans cant compete with three STEM people for every STEM job, then thats their problem and they can starve. The fact that almost every Libertarian I had ever met would not have survived living in the 1800s really doesnt bother them, if it even enters their mental radar at all.
And of course this heartless attitude fucks it all up for actual conservatives who mistake these drones for a form of conservatism. But Russel Kirk and Edmund Burke would not have recognized these ass holes as conservative in any way shape or form. Conservatism is about preserving Christendom and always has been and these Johnny-Come-Lately Losertarians are nothing more than a bunch of rats who are not bad because of what they eat so much as what they get into and spoil for human consumption.
They are leaving their mark on this 2016 election so far, convincing innocent conservatives making the mistake of trusting them, to truthfully explain why they will not support an obviously conservative candidate. But with any luck, it will brand them for the alien shits that they are and the GOP will be more able to purge them from the ranks in 2018.
